Bulgaria: Protest by Nationalists stopped the Screening of a Film part of "Sofia Pride”

A protest by extreme nationalists prevented a screening at the "Odeon" cinema on Saturday (June 10) as part of the Sofia Pride Film Fest, reported organizers from the "Deistvie" Organization. It is part of the cultural program of "Sofia Pride", the biggest event of the LGBTQ+ community in Sofia and Bulgaria. The procession will take place on June 17.

"The Sofia Police was notified of the dates and locations of the screenings on 06/04/2023. For this reason, there was a group of police officers on site, who not only did not assist the organizers of the film festival in removing the protesters from the premises of the 'Odeon' cinema, but greeted them and shook hands," the organizers of the screening say.

"Sofia Pride" adds that the protest was announced by Kristijan Szkwarek, a former candidate for MEP from the nationalist VMRO party, who recently took the role of a political analyst. People wearing t-shirts of the "Vazrazhdane" (Revival) party can also be seen among the protesters. The pro-Russian party yesterday held a protest against the new government.

"The crowd of demonstrators filled both the lobby of the cinema and the space in front of it, taking close-up pictures with phones of the faces of visitors to the screening, shouting at them 'pedophiles' and chanting 'I don't want a gay parade in my city,'" said from the "Deistvie" Organization.

The gathered protestors, as well as the refusal of cooperation by the Ministry of Interior officials, forced them to cancel the screening. In front of witnesses from the organization, the manager of the movie theater has received a threat from protesters that if he allows further screenings in the program, more such protests will follow.

The film that should have been shown was "Close" by the Belgian director Lukas Dhont. It has been screened several times in Bulgaria without causing similar reactions.

"However, the current events come after days of threats and vandalizing billboards regarding the upcoming 'Sofia Pride' march in the capital, as well as several years of smear campaigns against the LGBTQ+ community, claiming it is 'affiliated', 'endorsing', 'popularizing' and aiming to 'legitimize' pedophilia. This outright lie pursues an obvious goal - to create an intolerable, hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people in society and force it to withdraw from publicity," added the organizers of the screening.

Before tonight's screening of the program of the "Sofia Pride Film Fest", the capital mayor Yordanka Fandakova and the management of the Sofia Police are called on to take every necessary action according to their competencies to ensure the peaceful progress and peaceful access to this and the following screenings within the film program.

They also call on the state institutions and political parties to "condemn the defamation of the LGBTQ+ community and the treacherous actions that thwart the exercise of their constitutional and human rights." They want the National Assembly to adopt amendments to the Penal Code criminalizing crimes motivated by the sexual orientation of the victims.

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